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Cali Road Trip… Northward.

After an incredible week with family and friends, we headed out of The Bay into Northern California and beyond. It was so good to see everyone… it gets a little lonely in the solitude out here in the woods. But after such a full week, we found ourselves ready for some isolation again!

Beautiful Nor Cal sky through the bus windshield

Road Dawg

Rainbow on the way to Shasta

Some troubles on the way……

We spent the first night in Mt. Shasta at the Woodsman Hotel. We were nervous about their reviews (eeek!!), but to our incredible surprise, we loved it! It is a very quaint, rustic motel that definitely makes you think of an old-timey mountain town. It’s not fancy, just cute. And very woodsy. Apparently there is new management, which probably explains why we got so lucky. We sat with Nick, the combo front desk man/bartender and had dinner and drinks and chatted. Everyone who works there are just good people. Mt. Shasta (only about an hour from where I went to college), is a wonderful community, surrounded by mountains, rivers, lakes, and healing mineral water springs. The population is filled with outdoor enthusiasts, artists, healers. Tourism is an important part of their economy, which is hard to maintain during the slow seasons. I can see that the town really struggles waiting for the summer. So that’s my little plug… to visit Shasta!

Mt. Shasta

The Woodsman

Our bus in Shasta

From Shasta, you have a choice between the faster, but MUCH less beautiful route up I5N and the gorgeous (I’m talking– Klamath Lake, Crater Lake, a MILLION snow-covered mountains, surrounded by evergreens and finishing up through the Columbia River Gorge –gorgeous) route up the 97. So (obviously) we headed up through Central Oregon. We camped in Madras at Lake Simtustus on the Deschutes just above the Pelton Dam and upstream from Lake Billy Chinook.

Logging North of Kalamath, OR

Market South of Bend, OR

Rest Stop near Bend, OR

On the way down to Simtustus

OH MY GOSH. What an amazing place we discovered!! We got a spot right on the shore, but the lake front RV resort is terraced in a way that every spot has a gorgeous lake view. They had the cleanest facilities, little community golf carts for all to use, fishing poles to borrow and such nice people! I am practically drooling as I write this. It was a perfect location.

Camp on Lake Simtustus

Our home for the night!

Woodfired Flank Steak

Fireside

Glassy lake in the morning

Camp coffee

Community golf carts

Mitch caught a few fish, but they were all babies, so we didn’t bring home any dinner…

We finished the trip out by driving through the Gorge, Dalles to Hood River. Stopped for some wine tasting at Marchesi and had belated mother’s day sushi with Mom in Portland. A little more wine tasting at Vista Hills and 2012 barrel tasting at White Rose Sunday on the way home. We feel really lucky. Now back to the farm…